Is a blood test covered by your health insurance?

A blood test is covered by the Dutch basic health insurance (basisverzekering) when a doctor requests it for a medical reason. If you visit your GP with symptoms and the GP considers blood testing necessary, the laboratory bills your health insurer. Covered is not the same as free, though: laboratory testing counts towards your compulsory excess (eigen risico). If you have not used up your excess in 2026, you still end up paying the laboratory costs yourself, through a settlement from your insurer afterwards.

If you choose a preventive blood test on your own initiative, without symptoms and without a medical indication, the basic insurance usually does not cover it. You pay for the test yourself, at a fixed price you know in advance. That test sits outside your health insurance and therefore does not touch your excess.

There is a third route in between: some supplementary insurance packages include a budget for prevention or health checks. Whether that applies to you is set out in your policy conditions. The rest of this guide explains how each route works.

If you have symptoms, your GP assesses whether blood testing is needed. If there is a medical indication, you receive a lab form and have your blood drawn at a collection point or hospital. The laboratory sends the bill directly to your health insurer. This testing falls under the basic insurance; you do not pay anything upfront.

In practice, this route is still not always free. The GP consultation itself is exempt from the excess, but the laboratory testing that follows from it is not. As long as your compulsory excess for 2026 has not been used up, your insurer offsets the laboratory costs against that excess. You then see those costs afterwards on your healthcare cost statement, often without knowing in advance what amount the laboratory would charge. How much it is depends on the requested markers and the laboratory's rates.

If your excess has already been fully used, for example through other healthcare costs earlier in the year, you usually notice nothing of the laboratory costs.

Good to know: in this route the GP decides which values are tested, fitting your symptoms. The basic insurance is meant for care with a medical reason, not for broad check-ups on your own initiative. If you want your values checked without symptoms, the GP will not always honour that request.

If you want insight into for example your cholesterol, blood sugar (HbA1c), vitamin D or thyroid function without a medical reason, that counts as preventive testing on your own initiative. The Dutch basic insurance usually does not cover this: there is no medical indication, so there is nothing to claim. You pay for the test yourself.

That has two clear advantages. You know exactly what you pay in advance, with no settlement afterwards. And because the test sits outside your health insurance, it does not touch your excess. Your excess remains fully available for care you may need later in the year.

At Bloodworks the pricing model is deliberately simple. The pricing is straightforward. Each individual marker has an all-in price that already includes the one-off blood draw fee of 29,-; the thyroid value TSH costs 69,- all-in, for example. If you combine several markers or smaller packages in one order, you pay that draw fee only once. From an order total of 225,- the blood draw fee is waived entirely; the large value packages are always above that level and are therefore fully all-in. Smaller theme packages, such as the Complete Blood Count at 59,-, show their package price; if your order stays below 225,-, the one-off draw fee is added. Order 2 or more packages and you also receive a 10% combination discount.

Every price includes the laboratory analysis, the review by a BIG-registered doctor and the report with explanation. You pay when you order and receive no additional invoice afterwards.

Many people in the Netherlands have supplementary insurance on top of the basic package. Some supplementary packages include a budget for prevention, lifestyle or a health check, and preventive blood testing is sometimes fully or partly reimbursed from it.

There is no general rule, however. The conditions differ strongly per insurer and per package: one package reimburses a fixed amount per year, another only specific checks or only testing via certain providers, and the maximum reimbursement varies widely. Whether your situation qualifies is therefore only stated in your own policy.

If you want to know where you stand, do the following:

• 1Check your policy conditions and search for terms such as prevention, health check or preventive testing.
• 2If you cannot work it out, ask your insurer directly: is a preventive blood test on my own initiative covered by my supplementary insurance, and if so up to what amount?
• 3Preferably do this before you have the test done, so you know for certain whether you will get part of the costs back.

Good to know: a reimbursement from supplementary insurance does not count towards your excess. The excess only applies to care from the basic insurance.

If your supplementary insurance covers preventive testing fully or partly, you can use the Bloodworks payment receipt to claim. With your order you receive a payment receipt in your own name, stating your reference, the date, the amount paid and the markers tested. Insurers usually want to see exactly what was examined when you submit a claim; that is why we list the markers on the payment receipt. You can also find it in your client portal. If your insurer specifically asks for an invoice, please contact support@bloodworks.nl.

You then submit the claim yourself, usually simply via your insurer's app or website. Keep in mind that your insurer decides whether and up to what amount your claim is reimbursed; that depends entirely on your policy conditions. Bloodworks cannot make any promises about this. If your claim is not reimbursed, or only partly, the payment receipt remains a clear record of what you had tested, for example for your own records or to share with your GP.

There is sometimes room for reimbursement outside health insurance as well. More and more employers offer a vitality budget you may spend on your health, or provide a periodic health check via an occupational health or vitality scheme. A preventive blood test often fits in well: it gives concrete insight and takes little time.

Ask your manager or HR department which schemes your organisation has and whether a blood test qualifies. The Bloodworks payment receipt, listing the markers tested, can be used for this too. If your employer needs an invoice in the company's name, choose Business at checkout and enter the company details. If your employer wants to arrange blood testing for several employees, for example as part of a vitality programme, you can find more about the options for teams and companies at bloodworks.nl/business.